Exirans

This article is about an Imperial Army formation from the /tg/ Heresy project, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40k universe.

Exirus Armored Brigades
Homeworld	Exirus
Doctrine	Combined Arms
Colors	Dark Blue or other colors with Gold Livery

Summary

The Exirus system is a part of the Core Worlds of the Ultima Segmentum. It is renown for its Forge World production, luxury products, abundance of Abhumans and a longstanding mercenary tradition.

Geography

The Exirus system orbits a red giant with a luminosity approaching nine times that of Sol, consisting of

History

Dark Age of Technology

Far, far into the grim darkness of the far future (but not that far), there is only colonization. In order to meet the demands of Terra early humans set out to the stars to harvest the resources to supply the homeworld. A large portion of the Core Worlds were colonized in time, providing mining facilities, agricultural worlds, and factory planets smack-dab in the middle of the galaxy. Like many of the earliest settlements these worlds were protected by an Imperial Knight family, which would fight off hostile flora and fauna on these newly colonized worlds. This age of peace and prosperity could not last.

Age of Strife

Like the rest of the galaxy, the region of space that would become Exirus was wracked by Warp Storms, making normal warp travel impossible. Entire industrial worlds died as the deliveries of needed food were tossed through space and time, or swallowed by untold horrors. The historical accounts of this period are the stuff of legends, but the resurgence of the Exiran subsector came when the knight Zyrrus of House Exirus managed to wage a war of conquest using sublight technologies. Why Knight would become so tyrannical is a mystery, but what evidence we do have suggests a damaged Thrones Mechanicum. This is supported by tales of later sucessors to the Exiran Empire becoming successively more unhinged and capricious, the typical noble instincts replaced with dictatorial ones. Accordingly, by the time of Emperor Zyrrus the Eighth a popular uprising broke out lead by the assembled nobility and their vassals. While again the true records of events will be forever lost, it is believed that the revolt was instigated by leaders of the Forge-worlds captured by the Empire. The old Imperial Knight suits were mothballed and enshrined in the Castle of the Reichstag, as a warning of the hubris of Men and a warning against tyrants.

After the Exirus Revolution, an elective monarchy was established. This Kaiser-elect would lead the Army in times of war and officially every Prince-Foreman owed fealty to the Kaiser. This fealty however did not extend to fellow princes, and with the constant rediscovery of vital resources and industries within the subsector many Princes wound up at each other's throats. To avoid the destruction of already priceless archaeo-tech, the newly elected Kaiser decreed that all disputes must be resolved on designated fields of honor away from the Hives and Factorums. These bouts of Kriegspiel were conducted with whatever resources and soldiers the Princes could afford. Many factories of unknown purpose would be gutted and repurposed to create arms and tanks. Teams of infantry would gain renown for their fighting prowess and princes would bid for their services. The handful of neglected Forgeworlders that survived on hydroponic farms were able to bring some of the less automated factories back to a fraction of their former output, and limited trade with the other Core Worlds was re-established at sublight speeds.

Members of the Adeptus Mechanicus claim that during this period they had sent out colonizing ships that established the Forge Worlds throughout the galaxy, and that therefore the prime industrial real-estate of Exirus belongs to them by way of the Treaty of Mars. While the Exiran's level of technology at the Imperium's discovery of them would suggest this, there is little to no evidence of the AdMech's presence in the Forge Worlds. If colony ships did arrive in the Exirus subsector, they were likely destroyed or incorporated into the fledgling Empire.

Despite the economic successes, military expansion of the Exiran Empire came to a near complete halt. The Princes, finding few true enemies outside of the passing WAAAGH!!!, instead chose to bicker among themselves, better laying out the rules to their wargames and honing their tactics to a fine art.

Great Crusade

The first encounters the Imperium had with citizens of Exirus were during the main thrust of Core Worlds campaign, with many of the Core Lords having hired mercenaries and rogue princes lusting for true combat. (WIP)

Hektor Heresy

(WIP)

Politics

Pre-Imperium, the myriad worlds of Exirus were subject to the rule of the Kaiser Elect, chosen from among the thousands of Prince-Foremen that own territory and oversee production throughout the Exiran worlds. In theory, the Kaiser was responsible for defense of the Realm and setting priorities for diplomacy. In practice, the challenges of directly ruling a interstellar empire at sublight speeds proved too great, and many Princes would act as free agents. Each of these princes would oftentimes own a Factorum, Farm, or Mine, with some larger installations being split between multiple princes. These properties would be maintained by serfs, men and women that would be born, raised, and die on the Prince's land. Every Prince considered themselves of equal rank to the others, which only heightened the competitions that sprung up between them. Over time the descendants of serfs drafted into these wargames would find a form of political autonomy, going from being bought and traded between Princes to selling their own services in war.

After being gifted to the Emperor, the political set-up is similar, but with Exirus owing allegiance to the Imperium instead of a Kaiser-elect. Many holdings were reshuffled and conglomerated as part of Uriel Starikov's political maneuvering, which has left many dispossessed Princes and their warbands seeking work and adventure throught the newly revealed Galaxy.

Culture

Exxer culture is among the most distinct within the Imperium, which is unsurprising considering the nature of its annexation. Similar to the Mechanicum, Exirans venerated a machine diety known as the "Prime Cog". With the introduction of the Imperial Truth this worship has diminished to scattered chapels and muttered curses. However, the Exiran view of the universe remains mostly unchanged. Rather than the worship of machines, Exirans view themselves as components in the machinery of the universe, and that the closest one comes to nirvanna is discovering your place in that machine and performing your role as well as possible. This extends from the lowest serf to the richest prince. The "Prime Cog" provided the motion that powered the entire universe, and therefore responsible to the drive to succeed in every part of it. That said, it is widely recognized that the machinery driving the universe would be far too vast and complex for anyone to understand, and that trying to do so would be absurd (well founded, considering the vastness and complexity of the decaying Forge Worlds many Exirans found themselves in). Better to maintain synergy with your comrades and to keep yourself running. These beliefs inform many Exxer turns of phrase, such as "mixed gears make for better torque" and "cross-purposes only make stripped teeth."

By modern standards the Exirus lifestyle is quite spartan, but to the world of the 41st millenium they might be considered grossly opulent. Many of the luxury goods factorums within the sector have been brought back online in some capacity, and provide luxuries ranging from pocket watches to chocolates. There is high demand for these products throughout the wider Imperium and the majority winds up being exported, but the average Exiran might even be able to afford a chocolate bar as a holiday gift on their salaries. This prosperity combined with their outlook on life creates an uncommonly positive mood among Exirans, even going so far as to have a sense of humor. Despite the crushing horror of the grimdark future Exxers will attempt to greet oblivion with a smile and a laugh.

The laughter helps with the suspicion directed at them from time to time. As a result of untold generations growing up in the smoke-choked skies of the Forgeworlds, the "average" Exxer is a gaunt, pale creature with greyed skin, white hair and sunken eyes. Other adaptations include pointed teeth and ears, producing an overall vampiric appearance. This alone would consign them to Abhuman status, but Exirus has large minorities of other Abhumans including Ogryn, Ratlings, Beastmen, and Squats among others. Between the original Exirus Empire and immigration during the Age of the Imperium the largest population and variety of Abhumans in the galaxy. Some of them even display the same vampiric traits as the native Exxers as a result of interbreeding. An Exiran would tell you a mix of gears makes for a wider range of ratios, but many citizens of the Imperium view this melting pot as a disgrace and peversion of humanity. A particularly uncharitable guardsman might call his Exiran comrade an "orkfucker" or the "bastard son of an Eldar". The only things preventing a purge so far is the need of Exiran tanks and munitions, and no-one wants to be "that guy that called an Exterminatus on the planet with the Chocolate Factorum."

When interacting with visitors an Exxer will often play to whatever rumors might be spread about them, flirting with or intimidating the newcomer with a wide, sinister grin showing their toothy maw. This is oftentimes defused with a sincere laugh and an invitation to supper, but not everyone is charmed or disarmed by this behavior. Soldiers especially will scope out a lone guardsmen, circling them like sharks then inviting them to a cup of cocoa.

Military

While normal imperial guard units have been drafted from the Exiran worlds, their true power comes from the mercenary brigades. Exirus has a long tradition of wargames among the Prince-Foremen for territory and resources. These battles of Kriegspiel would play out on areas specially set aside for them, using real soldiers and real ammunition. And real tanks. These competitions came to emphasize mobility and armor, ditching the mass levees of the wider Imperial Guard in favor of highly trained squad combat supporting waves of tanks and artillery. Each squad consists of a dozen men or less, trained in a specific weapon. They often work with APC support, but with the abundance of other armored vehicles these people carriers go lightly armored and nearly unarmed, focusing more on delivering troops to the field as quickly as possible.

This is a consequence of the nature of Kriegspiel, which has often blinded Princes to broader strategic implications. There's been more than one occasion when Exxers might have taken the day if only their Prince remembered that he had air support at their disposal, or had pressed too far forward on the offensive only to be cut off from their supply lines. And the shortlived nature of these conflicts has created logistic expectations that supporting forces cannot always fufill. The most common complaint is running out of weekly cocoa rations. While hot chocolate is often supplied, Commissars have successfully negotiated immediate summary execution for any soldier that asks "No marshmellows?"

Despite all these difficulties and drawbacks, when properly supplied and directed the Exirus Armored Brigades make for the finest tactical forces outside of the Space Marines. Due to frictions with the normal Imperial Army and its command structure Princes are often allowed to command their mercenaries directly in the field. While this has proven effective, it proved troublesome during the Heresy when Princes would bring their entire mercenary force (and attached tanks) to the side of the Traitor